Multi-zonal lamp heating may be utilized to provide thermal energy to multiple zones on a substrate for improved process uniformity tuning during substrate processes such as, for example, during an epitaxial deposition process. However, the inventors have discovered that conventional substrate supports used to support the substrate during processing with multi-zonal lamps detrimentally act to diffuse the thermal zones, thereby inhibiting the benefit of process uniformity tuning from the multi-zonal lamp heating process.
Accordingly, the inventors have developed improved substrate supports configured to operate in combination with a multi-zonal radiant energy source to provide a desired temperature profile to a substrate disposed on the substrate support.